Terra Firma
by Lady Starwing
Summary: The discovery of a dragon in a remote corner of Nestra should have been enough of a herald that the world was on the brink of a great change. The horrific, alien creatures pursuing it promised that this change would not be kind.


Dawn had yet to break when Bahamut found the child.

It wasn't an intentional discovery – the great duskwyrm had simply wandered down to the edge of the wharf where none of the humans had gathered to fish. There was still time before his rider would awaken and they would make for home, but Bahamut awoke earlier due to a rumbling stomach. It wouldn't be polite to wake the retreat's valet with whines for meat, so he had turned his gaze to the ocean and the broad fish within it – it would at least hold him over until his morning meal.

Perched on the edge of the sea wall, Bahamut cast a sharp glance into the clear water, looking for a moment to strike. A large bass swam within reach, its back turned – if he waited until the prime moment to strike, it wouldn't be able to swim away. Satisfied, he shifted his great bulk so his wings were braced farther apart, palms and talons flat on the ground as he reared his neck back to strike.

Then, the current shifted.

The fish gathered up near the sea wall scattered, and Bahamut rushed his lunge at the bass. While his jaws grazed the tail end, he was not fortunate enough to claim his prize. Lifting his massive head with an agitated snarl, the duskwyrm shifted his gaze around to try and locate the source of the sudden change.

Instead of seeing the waters recede to form a wall, like Bahamut had suspected, there was instead a small child in the middle of the bay. The ocean beneath them had a faint glow to it that receded as the wyvern watched. The child didn't vanish, instead opting to stand on the water as easily as if it were a stone road. They looked around, the pre-dawn light highlighting a white and light blue dress.

Bahamut let out a puzzled noise, head tilting to one side as he studied the small girl. This … wasn't normal. Humans weren't supposed to have such grace on top of the water – they tended to flounder about and sink, especially ones as small as the child that had just appeared. And yet, she stood there, confusion dawning on her face as she tried to gather up where she was.

The start of sniffles were escaping her when she turned and spotted Bahamut. A moment of silence passed, then the girl let out a shout and ran across the water's surface towards the duskwyrm. Surprised, the great beast attempted to scramble away, but couldn't get away in time to avoid the girl clinging to his snout with a vice grip.

A snort and a shake later, and Bahamut had dropped the child onto the sea wall before him. She stared at him in shock, deep blue eyes wide and glassing over with tears.

Panic began to kick in at that, as the duskwyrm knew all too well what followed. Squatting down as much as his great bulk would allow, Bahamut did his beast to try and make himself distract the child, large eyes locked on her as he let out a playful growl and let his large tongue fall from his maw. While it did delay the crying, the girl didn't seem all too keen on his sudden motion, scootching back a bit. He let out another half-charmed noise to try and appease the child, who continued to stare at him as her hands went to a golden chain that was looped around her neck.

Concerned, Bahamut let one eye focus on it as he rolled onto his back to appease the girl. While she did seem to slowly relax the more Bahamut goofed off, there was still some tension in the girl. She was too small for any real weapon, so what …?

"BAHAMUT."

The all-too familiar voice jerked the wyvern out of his lethargy, making a casualty out of a closed vendor stall when his tail crashed through it. There was his rider, looking a touch put out at the large wyvern's absence. Going by the cow leg held in one hand, Bahamut had been wrong in thinking he would be rude in waking the valet for breakfast.

His rider certainly looked the part – broadly built and wearing clothes suitable for mid-air combat, although his favored poleaxe wasn't present at the time. Chin length blond hair that was starting to grey was brushed from out of his face, leaving the annoyed scowl all too visible as he stepped towards the duskwyrm. "At the least you didn't go too far this time … And you didn't wreck more of those stalls," the man added as he glanced at the wrecked wood and canvas with a sigh. "I'll let the innkeeper of the Wandering Minstrel know, she should be able to get in touch with ..." The man's gaze had traveled as he spoke, finally settling on the small girl that sat on the sea wall.

She looked at him upon his arrival, but didn't move from her seated position. The glassiness in her eyes had vanished, and for that, Bahamut was grateful … until his rider decided to smack him in the wing membrane with the cow leg. "Gods above, Bahamut, where'd you drag the poor girl from?!" he groaned, worry and a touch of stress creeping into his voice. "you better not have been harrassing her for a treat -"

"He was being nice!"

Both Bahamut and his rider froze at that, eyes moving to the girl as she hopped to her feet fast enough to make her short black hair flounce into her face. Doing so revealed a pair of pointed ears, but that wasn't what had caught their attention.

She had spoken far more articulately than what either had expected for her apparent age.

"Well, I mean … he wasn't nice when he dropped me on the dirt." She continued, oblivious to the shocked looks on their faces. "But he's been a good boy since then!"

Bahamut watched his rider's mouth open and close for a moment, as if he was having difficulty stringing words together to respond. "I … I ah ..." The man shook his head in confusion, confirming the duskwyrm's suspicions before he managed to force out "just how _old_ are you? My eldest is about as articulate, but he's seven years old. You look … three. _"_

At that, the girl paused and tilted her head to one side, the chain she had been grasping falling out of her dress to show a teardrop shaped gem hanging from it. The blue color caught Bahamut's attention, and he shifted his focus to it as she crossed small arms over her chest. "I … uh … I _think_ I'm a thousand something?"

The man spluttered. "A _thousand?!"_

"I think? I don't really know ..." She admitted, small voice growing quiet.

Bahamut let out a snort and was ready to shuffle closer when he felt the air pressure shift, making him lift his head to look over the girl. Both she and his rider took note, and looked at him in confusion. The water was acting up again, a strange, ethereal violet light forming beneath the surface as the air pressure continued to drop, as if gravity was increasing to trap them down. Bahamut could feel the pressure on his wings, and his rider let out a grunt as he shifted to better brace himself, looking around for any mage that might have been around.

Seemingly unaffected, the small girl turned around … and let out a scared cry at the sight of the violet light.

It proved to be a well-warranted cry, as the light soon let out a shockwave and the waters seemed to part. Several human like figures stumbled through and onto the surface of the water, their exact appearances hard to gauge beneath a rippling light, as if they were water made sentient. The light vanished as the last one stepped through, and the air pressure returned to normal as suddenly as it had shifted. Crimson eyes opened at once, all focused on the girl.

" ** _Muitnelis ailif, ereterver da anger sutilbo."_**

The voice that spoke, horridly distorted though it was, sounded feminine. Whatever it said, however, only seemed to scare the child, and she cried out again before running back and hiding behind Bahamut.

"No! No I won't go!"

Bahamut shifted at the panic, letting a low growl slip from his throat. His rider shared the sentiment, the cow leg dropped to one side as his hand grasped the short sword attached to his belt. "Of all the blasted mornings to leave Bölverk in with the rest of my gear, it's the morning magical abominations decide to pay a visit." he grumbled, the blade held tight in his hand as he glanced at Bahamut. "Try not to wreck the buildings, alright? Let's just get these ...things out of here."

Answering with another growl, Bahamut reared his head back. The wyvern reared his head back, feeling the familiar heat gathering in his maw before letting out a blast of fire at the water-beasts as they began to shamble towards the shoreline. It struck true, with enough heat to evaporate one of the creatures instantaneously. The steam that came from the death singed the other beasts near it, but none of them stopped their approach.

This suited Bahamut just fine, and the wyvern snapped out with his maw instead, managing to capturing the one in the lead. The taste of decay and sea brine lashed against his senses, and it was only through the knowledge that dropping one of the creatures would let them at the girl far easier. With a snarl, he brought the creature down beneath the palm of his wing and tore it in two, the stench of water-rotted flesh and seaweed spewing forth in an almost tangible cloud.

His rider had intercepted the apparent leader of the creatures at that point, the rest of them distracted by Bahamut and his great bulk as they tried to manuver to the small child behind him. A curved sword that seemed to be made of ice swung out and collided with the short sword the man wielded. The crimson eyes refocused onto him, and a more stable form seemed to settle for a moment despite the shifting currents. It was a young woman in strange, sloping armor emblazoned with the emblem of a winged star, the water that made up her form changing colors to white and sky blue.

" _ **Etats musroes, Xer Sirbenet. Meuq sov non sitics sinoel tnaget."**_

The man scowled – he recognized the title in the statement, which was worrying. "I haven't the foggiest idea what you said, but I'll have to politely disagree with you anyway!" he countered instead, striking the watery-woman with the fist not holding the sword. The blow sent a glacial chill through his arm, but had the indended effect of breaking the sword lock and sending her skidding back a small distance.

Behind him, Bahamut had subdued and destroyed the majority of the other attackers, snarling at the largest one that still remained. It was nimble, despite its size, and was consistently making attempts to dive beneath the wyvern's bulk to get at the girl who hid beneath it. Her small hands grasped onto Bahamut's haunches, eyes darting between the larger pursuer and the leader, who had re-engaged the wyvern rider.

An opportunity for the large one came when Bahamut missed a swipe with his massive head. Crouching low, it lunged, hands managing to secure themselves around the girl's waist in a merciless grip. She cried out and began flailing her small arms, the smacks and slaps proving ineffective as her captor drew her out from beneath Bahamut's bulk before the wyvern could crush him.

"Let me go, let me go! GO AWAY!"

The cries made both the leader of the creatures and the rider turn to look, the latter in a panic. With a shout that was half panic and half fury, he lunged forward, the sword in his hand going into the larger creature's back. While there wasn't the resistance he expected to be there in the form of a spine, it was enough of a surprise to make him drop the girl, who scrambled out of the way a bit as the stone on her neck shone brighter.

His distraction, however, let the leader dive in and land a gash across his upper arm. Whirling with a shout, he clasped his free hand to the wound and backed up against Bahamut as the wyvern seated himself in the gap of a side street. There wasn't much room for the wyvern to maneuver now, and too much in the way for him to take off into the sky with the girl. All he could hope for was that the wyvern's flame breath struck true … and didn't melt through the stone pavement too much.

Neither the feminine shape nor the large one seemed much discouraged, approaching with steady steps. Bahamut watched the girl – now behind his rider and clutching to his breeches – as she shook her head again. The stone around her neck grew brighter, and an instinctive fear set into the duskwyrm as things began to connect in his brain.

This wasn't a human child.

It appeared that the water-beasts hadn't seen the light, because the leader continued to speak. " _ **Airolg Enocard Telis! Ni medual, te mairolg."**_ She proclaimed, _ **"Mai ut euqouq bus enoicid, Xer Sirbenet."**_ The larger creature echoed her statement, stepping in front of the commander. With a shove, he had pushed the rider aside, exposing the girl.

This time, however, she did not flee. The light from her stone had reached a zenith, and she shook her head. "I SAID, **GO AWAY!"**

And with the cry, the light engulfed her.

Bahamut looked away, eyes closed against the brightness. The creatures didn't seem to have the same luck, as they let out shrieks and huddled back from the bright light. The rider shifted and pushed himself upright as the light faded, frantic eyes looking at where the girl had once stood.

In her place stood a reptilian creature whose head was on level with his shoulders, situated on top of a serpentine neck. Four feet with wicked claws rested against the cobblestones, and a long tail thrashed about behind it. Small spines followed the arch of the neck, stopping where a pair of massive wings grew from the creature's back. The silver scales and plating covered white and lighter blue flesh tones, thin lines of golden color scattered throughout. There were no eyes on the creature's face, only more of the pale blue skin and metallic growths, two of which formed a loose crescent moon shape before starting to protrude upwards.

Flaring the wings up to reveal three segmented fingers, the small creature let out a shriek of steel on glass, and both Bahamut and his rider recoiled at the sound. Pulling his hand away from an ear when he felt warmth hit it, the rider looked at the blood on his hand in disbelief before his eyes looked at the creature in time to see it rear and maul the larger water-beast with a forepaw.

"Gods above … a _dragon!?"_

The question went unanswered as the larger assailant fell to the cobblestones. The small dragon didn't pause and struck at its form again and again, until a swipe reduced it to a splatter of seawater and brine on the street. Nearby, the leader seemed to shake off whatever had kept her in place – perhaps the cry had stunned her momentarily? – and stepped forward, blade drawn. That was as far as it could approach, however, as her approach was answered by a blast of swirling energy from the dragon's mouth that ripped her torso in two. Staggering for a moment, the woman went to one knee as water vapor began to rise from her form. " _ **Airolg … Enoc … ard Tel … is ..."**_

With nary a word more, she toppled over and evaporated into the morning mists.

Silence reigned for several moments, Bahamut and his rider watching the small dragon until she reverted back to a more humanoid form. She wavered on her feet for a moment before steadying herself, the glow slowly dimming from the stone around her neck.

After a moment, she sighed and turned to the rider with a tired look in her eyes. "That … that was rough … Oof." She said before seating herself heavily on the ground. "Are … you okay?"

"It … is far from the worst wound I've gotten." he admitted with a glance at Bahamut. The duskwyrm gave a snort – the blows hadn't harmed him in the slightest – and his rider turned to look at the girl again. "But … what would bring you here? It's been centuries since a proper dragon was seen on this continent."

Deep blue eyes looked at him, pupils slits in the light of the rising sun. "I … I don't know?" she admitted, voice small. "I … don't remember anything. I know I should, but there's a big wall in the way. All I know is rushing through a water tunnel, then everything after meeting your buddy." At that, she paused. "... also that I'm about eleven hundred, but even then I think that's because of how big I am as a dragon."

"Do you remember a name, at least? It would be rather rude to go around calling you 'dragon'."

The dragon paused and shook her head. "no … And nowhere to go to find out, I bet ..."

At that, Bahamut turned to his rider with a curious snort. The man stood there with a conflicted look on his face for a moment before he crossed his arms over his chest with a sigh. He was clearly thinking on what to do, weighing the options of what could happen if a small dragon was left alone. A parent dragon had yet to appear, even with the attack, so Bahamut wagered that the little one's parents had died while sending their daughter away from … wherever she had come from.

His rider seemed to have reached the same conclusion, because he nodded to himself and offered the dragon girl a smile before he knelt down to be on eye level with her. "Well, I can probably help with that last one …"

* * *

The wyvern rookery was chilly at this time of night, forcing young prince Xander to huddle further under the blanket he had chosen to bundle up in while he watched the evening sky far overhead. It was a two day-long flight from Nestra to Windmire proper as the crow flew, so his father should have been back by now.

A soft sigh escaped the prince, and he took a sip of the hot chocolate the head maid had given him not long ago. While a more rational part of his brain was telling him to head to bed and greet his father in the morning, sleep had escaped him for about two hours before he had given up and gone up to the rookery to wait. "Maybe I should have gone along with him ..." Xander thought with a sigh, brown eyes staring at the steam that rose from his mug without truly seeing it. "But he needed time alone after losing Mother ..."

He was jarred from his thoughts at the sound of a familiar roar, one that echoed deep into the crater that the royal castle resided in. Xander's eyes returned to the sky in an instant, fast enough to see the sliver of the moon blocked out by a large black shape as it began to descend. How Bahamut was able to keep himself from clipping the walls of the crater, Xander wasn't fully certain, but it was always impressive to watch the great wyrm come in for a landing.

With a quick jump to his feet and securing the blanket more tightly around himself, the small prince trotted to the edge of the landing platform in time to witness Bahamut's wings flaring up to slow his descent, taloned feet hanging a foot or two above the ground for a solid moment before settling down. The leathery wings folded a second later for the great beast to rest on his forelimbs as well, the wing nearest to Xander forming a slope that made for an easier descent .

Seated at the base of the great creature's neck was the king, wrapped in a large fur cloak to protect against the chill of the wind. Xander could see the greataxe his father favored lashed to the back of his saddle, a sign that there had been no true issue on the flight home that warranted it's use. The prince waited until he saw his father start to shift to dismount before moving forward, the movement making Bahamut turn to him and crowed a greeting.

"Bahamut it's the middle of the night – let the people sleep." King Garon commented as he shifted from the saddle, voice amused as he shifted to the wing joint. Xander watched as the large man worked his way down from there to the bend of his mount's elbow before finally jumping to the stone floor of the rookery. He straightened as Xander reached him, making the man's face soften. "Xander? You should be in bed, son."

"Couldn't sleep ..." the child replied with a shake of his head, brown eyes glancing to his father's side. At that, he gave a shake of his head and forced himself to meet his father's eyes again, biting the inside of his cheek. Now was not the time for him to be timid, after all – it was his _father._ "I was surprised you weren't home earlier. Did something happen?"

Garon had opened his mouth to reply to his son's question, surprised by the eye contact, but was cut off by a small whistle from Bahamut. He had half turned to look at the beast when a shape jumped at him from the saddle he just descended from himself. Xander couldn't quite make out what it was, and yelped in shock when it collided with his father's back.

It didn't seem to have wounded the king, because apart from a subdued series of curses and a half step forward, he was unharmed. "Gods in the heavens ..." he muttered and looked over his shoulder and down. "Was that _really_ necessary? _"_ he demanded of whatever had crashed into him, and was only answered with a series of strange giggles.

Curiosity piqued, Xander stepped forward and leaned to peer around his father's side. "Who are you talking t – Ah!" he recoiled at the sight of a blue, horse-like face that was on level with his father's shoulder, shocked. The head seemed to be the source of the giggles, and whatever the strange creature was shifted a bit to step out from behind the king. Xander stared as a flash of blue light and a swirl of seawater covered the beast, leaving a small girl behind instead.

"Hi there!" She greeted, blue eyes locking onto his brown ones as she folded her hands behind her back. "You're Xander, right?"

"Y … yes?" He admitted, remembering his manners enough to give a small bow to the strange, black-haired girl. "A ...a nd who are you, then?" Confused eyes looked to Garon, who gave a chuckle and placed a large head on the girl's head. It was a familiar gesture, and Xander relaxed at the way the girl giggled from the action.

"Her name is Terra, Xander," He began, "Bahamut found her in Nestra, and as far as any of us know, her parents are gone. So, she'll be staying with us for some time, so I'll want you to help keep an eye on her like she's family, alright?"

Xander looked at his father for a long moment before he let his gaze return to 'Terra', who watched him with a small smile. Whatever she _was_ – he doubted she was human, not with what she had looked like a mere half moment ago – she seemed friendly enough. It would be easy to talk to her, at least, and if his father wanted her to feel like she was at home …

He looked back to his father and gave a nod. "Alright," he replied, and then turned to give Terra a shaky smile and an extended hand in greeting. "I … I guess I should be saying 'welcome home' to you too, then?"

Garon chucked as he withdrew the hand from Terra's head, watching the girl to see what she would do in response. He was relieved to see her nod and smile back at Xander's greeting. She then opted to bound past the outstretched arm in favor of jumping up to hug Xander around his neck. The seven-year-old yelped and dropped his thankfully empty mug on the stone ground, but didn't stumble much beyond that. It was still enough to wring a laugh from the old king and Bahamut.

Terra didn't pay them much attention, opting instead to tighten the grip she had around her 'sibling's' shoulders. "Yep yep! Thank you for welcoming us home, big bro~"

* * *

 _ **Tori's Notes:** So!_

 _Instead of working on the next chapter for ANYTHING ELSE my brain spat this out. It's a bit closer to canon in most respects compared to Churning Earth the Big Fun AU verse, but I'm gonna work to make it a bit less plot-holey and have some fun building up the world._

 _Especially Valla. Valla was fun to plot out for this verse._

 _I hope you all enjoy the ride (even when I direct this to the land of 'oh god my soul')._


End file.
